Air filter guides for an air conditioner

ABSTRACT

According to the present invention, a filter guide structure is provided for an air conditioner of the type having an indoor section which includes a housing having an evaporator coil. The evaporator has fins on its front surface and is mounted in a substantially vertical orientation. An indoor grill is adapted to be mounted to the housing in spaced relation to the evaporator coil. The grill includes a front wall having a return air opening to admit return air to be conditioned into the evaporator coil. The front wall has an elongated opening adjacent to an edge thereof to receive the filter for insertion and removal of the filter into the space between the indoor grill and the evaporator coil. The filter includes a rectangular frame having a leading edge and a trailing edge and laterally spaced edges interconnecting the leading and trailing edges. The filter guide structure receives the laterally spaced edges of the filter after the leading edge has passed through the elongated opening and slideably guides the filter along a path which prevents contact of the filter with the fins of the evaporator coil.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to air conditioners and, moreparticularly, to an arrangement for facilitating installation of afilter in the indoor grill of a room air conditioner.

BACKGROUND ART

Room type air conditioners typically have an indoor section and anoutdoor section. The indoor section is responsible for cooling anddehumidifying the indoor room a while the outdoor section is responsiblefor exhausting heat into the outdoor environment. The indoor and outdoorsections each have a heat exchanger coil and a fan, and each has areturn air opening and a discharge opening. A grill structure isnormally installed over each section to prevent the entry of foreignobjects, while allowing the free flow of air to and from the sections aswell as for aesthetic consideration.

It is common practice to have associated with the indoor grill structurea filter element, through which the indoor air passing to the indoorcoil must pass. Such a filter is designed to remove substantiallysmaller contaminants from the air than the indoor grill. Quite often theindoor grill must be removed from the air conditioner in order to gainaccess to the filter. Other air conditioners are known, which have arectangularly shaped reusable filter which slides into a slot orientedabove the inlet grill such that the filter may be installed or withdrawnfrom a location behind the grill and in front of the evaporator coil byvertically displacing the filter within the slot.

It is deemed desirable to have a filter assembly which easily slidesinto a slot provided in the indoor grill. It is also desirable toprevent the filter assembly from contacting and possibly damaging thefragile heat exchange fins of the evaporator coil as the filter isinstalled or removed from its mounting in an indoor grill.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a filter guide structure is providedfor an air conditioner of the type having an indoor section whichincludes a housing having an evaporator coil. The evaporator has fins onits front surface and is mounted in a substantially verticalorientation. An indoor grill is adapted to be mounted to the housing inspaced relation to the evaporator coil. The grill includes a front wallhaving a return air opening to admit return air to be conditioned intothe evaporator coil. The front wall has an elongated opening adjacent toan edge thereof to receive the filter for insertion and removal of thefilter into the space between the indoor grill and the evaporator coil.The filter includes a rectangular frame having a leading edge and atrailing edge and laterally spaced edges interconnecting the leading andtrailing edges. The filter guide structure receives the laterally spacededges of the filter after the leading edge has passed through theelongated opening and slideably guides the filter along a path whichprevents contact of the filter with the fins of the evaporator coil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be better understood and its objects and advantageswill become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a room air conditioner which embodiesthe features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective top view of a room air conditioner of the typeshown in FIG. 1 with the upper cover and front grill removed therefrom;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 withthe top part of the outer housing removed therefrom;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the front grill of the air conditioner of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5—5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a back perspective view of the front grill with the filterinstalled therein;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a filter for use with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the filter of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the filter of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a filter guide channel according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is an end view of the filter guide channel of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the filter guide channel of FIG. 10.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

With reference initially to FIG. 1, a room air conditioner 10 includes asubstantially rectangular housing 12 which includes a lower housingsection 14, an upper housing section 16, and an indoor grill section 18.The lower housing section 14 is mounted in a metal basepan 20, and theentire room air conditioner is adapted to be positioned in a rectangularopening in an exterior wall or on a windowsill in a room where coolingis desired, with the indoor grill section 18 facing into the room as isconventional.

FIG. 2 illustrates the air conditioner 10 with the upper housing 16 andthe indoor grill section 18 removed. Again, as is conventional, the unitcomprises an indoor refrigerant to air heat exchanger 22 (hereinafter“evaporator coil”) and an inside fan or evaporator fan 24. Air from thespace to be conditioned by the system is drawn by action of theevaporator fan 24, through inlet louvers 26 formed in the indoor grillsection 18, through a filter element 21 (to be described in detailhereinbelow) and is directed through the evaporator coil 22 where theair is cooled, and then directed back into the space to be cooledthrough an indoor conditioned air discharge assembly forming part of thegrill 18.

Other components of the air conditioner forming the outside orcondensing unit of the air conditioning unit are not necessary to anunderstanding of the present invention and will not be described herein.

Looking now at FIG. 2, it will be noted that the evaporator coil 22includes a left-hand tube sheet 30 and right-hand tube sheet 32 whichextend vertically at opposite ends of the evaporator coil 22. As isconventional, several rows of heat exchanger tubes 34 interconnected byhairpin turn ends extend between the tube sheets to define a continuousflow path for refrigerant therethrough. A plurality of verticallyextending heat exchange fins are carried by the tubes and extendsubstantially vertically and parallel to the tube sheets 30 and 32.

The previously mentioned indoor grill 18 is adapted to be removablyattached to the rectangular housing 12 as defined by the lower and upperhousings 14 and 16, respectively. A cross-sectional view of the airconditioner unit showing the indoor grill 18 attached to the unit isshown in FIG. 3. In this figure it will be noted that the filterassembly 21 (again, to be described in detail hereinbelow) is mountedbehind the intake louvers 26 of the indoor grill 18 and in spacedrelationship with the front of the evaporator coil. As will be seen fromthe description of the invention which follows, the present inventionprevents contact of the filter assembly 21 with the delicate fins 36 onthe front of the evaporator coil as it is inserted and withdrawn fromits operable position as illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show the indoor grill 18 removed from the airconditioning unit 10. With reference now to those drawing figures, thefront grill 18 includes a substantially planar front section 38, whichincludes previously mentioned inlet louvers 26 and an opening 40 inwhich the indoor air discharge assembly 28 is mounted. Extending fromthe planar front section are a top wall 42, a bottom wall 44 and a leftand right-hand side walls 46 and 48, respectively. The top, bottom, leftand right-hand walls cooperate to define a skirt element integrallyformed and extending rearwardly from the planar front of the grill 18.It is should be understood that FIG. 6 illustrates the back of the inletgrill 18. The references to left and right-hand sides are based onviewing the air conditioning unit and grill 18 from the front asillustrated in FIG. 1 and, accordingly, references to left and right arereversed with respect to FIG. 6.

Looking first at FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the filter assembly 21 includes asubstantially rectangular frame 50 which defines a substantially planargrid-like section 52. The top of the filter frame 50 defines ahorizontally extending forwardly facing wall 54 which has a pair ofmanually releasable snap-fit latch conformations 56 formed at oppositeends thereof. The filter frame 50 further includes a pair of laterallyspaced sides 53 and a leading edge section 55 parallel to and spacedfrom the top wall 54. The filter frame 50 is preferably made from anunfilled copolymer polypropylene. A filter screen material 58 overliesand is integrally attached to the sections forming the grids 52. Thisscreen is preferably a polypropylene material and is adapted to becleaned by vacuuming and/or washing so that it may be reused for thelifetime of the unit.

Looking now at FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the filter assembly 21 is adapted to bereceived in a horizontally extending opening 60 provided in the planarfront wall 38 of the grill 18 at the upper end thereof above the inletlouvers 26. The slot 60 is sized to receive the top wall 54 of thefilter therein when the filter is full installed. The slot is providedwith mating latching structure 62 at the top side thereof, which isadapted to mate with the latches 56 provided on the top wall 54 when thefilter is fully installed.

Looking now at FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of upstanding parallel spaced wallsections are formed on the backside of the planar front wall 38 of theindoor grill 18. These walls extend on opposite sides of the air intakelouvers 26 and extend from the opening 40, which is adapted to carry theair discharge assembly 28 to the inside of the bottom wall 44 of thegrill 18. As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an upstanding pivot pin 68 ismolded into each of the spaced walls 64 at a location near the top ofthe filter receiving slot 60 and spaced inwardly from the plane of saidslot 60.

Pivotally mounted to each of the pins 68 is an elongated guide channel70 shown in detail in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. Each of the guide channels 70comprises a side wall portion 72 having an opening 74 formed in anenlarged upper end 76 thereof. The openings are snap-fit onto one of thepivot pins 68 to allow free pivotal movement of the guide channel 70about its engagement with its associated pivot pin 68.

Each of the guide channels 70 include a rear guide wall 78 and a frontguide wall 80, which extend from opposite sides of the side wall 72 toform a filter receiving U-shaped channel 82. As best seen in FIGS. 10and 11, the width of the side wall 72 tapers from the end adjacent thepivot opening 74 to the distal or lower end 84 to result in a narrowingof the channel 82 defined by the guide walls 78 and 80. As best seen inFIGS. 3, 5 and 6, the length of the rear guide wall 78 on each of theguide channels 70 is substantially the same as the overall length of aside 53 of the filter frame 50. As best seen in FIGS. 10 and 12, thefront guide wall 80 originates at a location spaced from the enlargedend 76 of the side wall 72. As thus described, each of the guidechannels 70 is adapted to be pivotally mounted as illustrated in FIGS. 5and 6 in a manner such that it may pivot outwardly as best shown in FIG.5 and pivot down to an installed position with the side wall 72 inconfronting relation with the spaced wall 64 of the grill 18.

As so configured, when a filter assembly 21 is inserted into the slot60, the leading edge 55 of the filter frame 50 will pass through theslot and directly engage the rear guide walls 78 of each of the guidechannels 70 below the pivot pin 68. The insertion force of the filterwill thereby cause each of the guide channels 70 to pivot outwardly asillustrated in an exaggerated fashion in FIG. 5 as the sides 53 of thefilter frame 50 are received within their respective guide channels 70.Continued insertion of the filter will result in the sides 53 of thefilter frame 50 being fully received within the guide channels and thefilter, and guide channel 70 moving into the position illustrated inFIG. 6 as the top wall 54 of the filter moves into the slot 60 and thelatches 56 are engaged with the mating structure 62 in the slot.

It should be appreciated that as the filter is being installed and theguide channels 70 are moving outwardly that the guide channels areadapted to engage front sections 86 and 88 of the left and right-handtube sheets 30 and 32, respectively. As a result, no direct contactoccurs between the filter assembly as it is installed within the indoorgrill 18 and thus no interference with the insertion of the filter iscaused by engagement with the fins 36 of the evaporator coil andaccordingly no damage to the fragile fins will occur as a result of suchcontact.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air conditioner of the type having an indoorsection which includes a housing having an evaporator coil, having fins,mounted therein in a substantially vertical orientation, and an indoorgrill adapted to be mounted to the housing in spaced relation to theevaporator coil, the grill including a front wall having a return airopening therein to admit return air to be conditioned into theevaporator coil, the front wall having an elongated opening adjacent toan edge thereof adapted to receive a filter for insertion and removal ofthe filter into the space between the indoor grill and the evaporatorcoil, the filter including a rectangular frame having a leading edge anda trailing edge, and laterally spaced edges interconnecting said leadingand trailing edges, wherein the improvement comprises: a filter guidestructure for receiving said laterally spaced edges of said filter aftersaid leading edge of said filter has passed through elongated openingfor slideably guiding said filter along a path, the path preventingcontact of said filter with said filter of said evaporator coil, saidfilter guide structure comprising: a pair of elongated guide channelsmounted, for pivotal movement about an end thereof, to pivot pointslocated on the back side of said front wall at opposite ends of saidelongated opening, said guide channels extending along opposite sides ofsaid return air opening; each of said guide channels having a rear guideat least coextensive with said pivotally mounted end and a front guidespaced from said rear guide and originating at a point spaced from saidelongated opening; whereby when said filter is inserted into saidelongated slot, said leading edge engages said rear guide and theinsertion force exerted on said filter results in pivotal movement ofsaid guide channels away from the back side of said front wall tofacilitate movement of said side edges of said filter into the spacebetween said front and rear guides, and wherein complete insertion ofsaid filter into said guide channels results in pivotal movement of saidguide channels toward the back side of said front wall to therebyposition said filter in the desired spaced relationship from saidevaporator coil.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said evaporatorcoil includes vertically extending structural elements at opposite endsthereof each of said structured elements presenting a surface facingsaid back side of said front wall and spaced outwardly from said fins,wherein said pair of elongated guide channels are located so as toengage said surface of said structural elements when said filter isbeing inserted and withdrawn from said grill.